The Spaniard, ranked No. 7 in the world, added to the title he won in 2007 when he topped the former world No. 3 Nalbandian in just 68 minutes.

Ferrer broke Nalbandian's serve in the eighth game of the first set, serving out the set at his first opportunity. He then broke in the fifth and seventh games of the second set to clinch his 10th career title.

Ferrer, who steadily improved throughout the week in Auckland — his first tournament of 2011 — brought a more reliable serve to the final. He won 73 percent of first serve points while Nalbandian won only 52 percent. On second serves it was 67 to Nalbandian's 60 percent.

He saved the only three break points Nalbandian held while converting three of five break points on the Argentine's serve.

Nalbandian, the No. 6 seed, had not dropped a set on his way to the final but struggled with an unusually high error rate on Saturday and suffered his seventh loss in 12 matches with Ferrer.

In the Australian Open first round starting Monday, both players have difficult opponents: Ferrer will face experienced Finn Jarkko Nieminen while Nalbandian will take on Lleyton Hewitt in front of the Australian's home crowd.

In the doubles final, the Spanish pairing of Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo, the No. 2 seeds, beat Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Stephen Huss of Australia 6-4, 7-6 (6).